The crazy idea of riding 122 km from Vancouver to Whistler had never been on my 2013 agenda until the opportunity presented itself. After 14 weeks of training, on Saturday 7th September at 6:15am, I arrived on West Georgia with thousands of riders getting into position for the 6:45am start as we zigzagged our way through the crowd to locate our corrals; it was a magnificent scene. The sky was dark, the streetlights were flickering, the music was going and the rain came to a stop. The atmosphere was surreal like nothing I had imaged. I was feeling nervous and excited at the same time, and was relieved to find Karin, Jim and Sandrina as company (a few of my training buddies) before the countdown.

We anxiously waited for our corral to roll out after the starter pistol was fired, not long after we were on our pedals moving forward towards Stanley Park. The sun slowly came up and the road was still damp from the rain so I took extra precautions and slowed myself down. My body was still feeling cold and stiff, calling for a warmer place to be. As we rode into the park I jokingly said to Sandrina ‘I am so tempted to peel off and head home right now’. Fortunately the thought didn’t last long, riding across Lions Gate Bridge was magnificent. Groups of spectators appeared on the bridge, all the way up to Talyor Way and onto highway number one. The cow bells were ringing, people were cheering, and the energy was up. At that moment, tears filled my eyes; I couldn’t believe I was riding the Gran Fondo.

I knew I would be happy to just get to the finish line regardless of what time or how long. I went at my own pace riding on my own. After the first rest stop at Horseshoe Bay, a kind elderly gentleman rode up to me to tell me that my glasses were about to fall out of my back pocket, he reminded me that everyone else on this ride was a friend that I was not alone.

It took me awhile to warm up; not until after a few sips of Galileo coffee, some food and a few stretches at the Britannia Beach rest stop I was ready to powered up to Squamish and Alice Lake, it was my favourite part of the ride. By the way, if you were one of the people that got off your bike to walk up Furry Creek hill, you guys were still awesome!

I saw countless of familiar faces along the way, said hi and continued on the ride. By the time I reached Salt Shed, the second to last rest stop, my stomach was feeling so sick from the amount of sugar intake, so I tossed all my gel and waffles. I had stopped at every rest stop except for the last, Brandywine Falls, a big mistake.

With no food in the last 18 km, riding in low blood glucose condition was hell; I think I was nearly at the mercy of “bonking”. The last hill that took forever to climb with zero energy and the Whistler village that took forever to reach, from the “Welcome to Whistler” sign to the finish line all I did was counting down the kilometers and peddling at a ridiculously slow speed until Sandrina came to rescue. Sandrina rode up to me from behind at 2km before the finish line and yelled, ‘hey Julie, what are you doing here, I thought you would be having beer in the beer garden by now.’ I said to her ‘I am about to die, do you have any food on you’, she reached into her pockets and passed on a chocolate gel, it was like gold.

I crossed the finish line, but not the way I imagined, holding an empty chocolate gel in my hand about to pass out! I was happy to see my husband call out my name in the spectator’s crowd, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile. My stomach was sick for the rest of the day and I was in bed by 9:30pm. The next morning breakfast at the hotel was a treat. I woke up and was in a great mood, checked myself into the spa for a full body massage, came out totally relaxed.

I am humbled to have been on this journey. I want to thank everyone at My First Fondo Training, RBC Gran Fondo Whistle, Cycling BC and Vancouver Sun for giving me the opportunity to discover a part of me that I never knew I had. I hope to partake in the fifth anniversary event that is already on the calendar, dare I say the 152km ride!

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